Post-Election Debrief

Gosh - just like that it's all over.  I can honestly say that I'm glad, although I'm not sure what I'm going to read about on the Internet now.  There are lots of interesting things that came out of this election cycle:

1.  The "blue" state of New York is more partisan than the following "red" states: Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, and several others.  New York went blue with 62% going for BO while the red states all went for JM with less than 60%.  Is that meaningful?  Maybe not, like I said, just interesting.  

2. Massachusetts voters approved to decriminalize marijuana which, in my opinion, is a vote for common sense.

3.  Arkansas voters approved to not allow unmarried adoption.  Language from MSN regarding Amendment 1: "Provides that a minor in Arkansas may not be adopted or placed in a foster home if the individual seeking to adopt or to serve as a foster parent is cohabiting with a sexual partner outside of a marriage which is valid under the constitution and laws of this state."  This, seems to be the complete opposite of common sense.

4. Minnesota is having a recount between Norm Coleman (R) and Al Franken (D).  Yes, that, Al Franken of SNL.  I read one of Franken's books a while back and he is pretty funny but I hardly would want him serving in Congress.  But it's the state of Lake Wobegon so whatevs.  

 

I spent the election in the East Village which was mucho fun.  I promise to post a few photos to give everyone an idea of what Election Night was like.  Anyway, I guess I'm going to work on finding something else to do with my time...

At Long Last...

Good morning, my fellow Americans.

I thought I would drop a quick note to remind everyone that if you are registered to vote, please do so.  Here's also a quick recap from NY Mag in case you need a reminder of how long and frequently hilarious this campaign was.  

Some examples: Fred Thompson asked supporters for applause, Joe Biden calling out Rudy Guliani for 9/11 usage, Dave Letterman complaining about a flakey John McCain, Sarah Palin's daughter's baby-daddy drama.  Isn't it a shame that it all ends today?

On an interesting side-note, I voted around 6:30 am today after waiting in line for approximately 30 minutes.  For the first time, I actually pulled a lever in order to cast my vote.  Apparently this isn't new for New Yorkers but I had never literally pulled the lever for anyone.  I figured those things had gone the way of the dodo bird moons ago.

Happy Election Day!

Bailout Vote - Senators Edition

Good morning, my fellow Americans.

Today we will witness another dog and pony show courtesy of our elected officials in Washington, D.C.  The vote is supposed to take place some time this evening (probably in prime time of course) and there will likely be ubiquitous coverage by all networks and cable news.

I arrived late to work this morning (my usual routine lately) so I'm just getting going but I've already found some good information courtesy of Michelle Malkin, who I detest, but her blog does have some good information in it about the new version of the bill which has its share of pork.

That being said, I don't have to tell you what will happen tomorrow if this doesn't pass.  Paul Krugman seems to feel better about it but still isn't in love.  While the gang at Reason is vehemently opposed and note that our two candidates for President happen to agree on the need for the bailout but don't really know too much about it.

Crisis, Turmoil, Chaos, Whatever

I got a request to opine on the current madness that is currently happening on Wall St. and since I don't like to disappoint my few loyal readers, I thought I would indulge a little.  Granted there are an infinity of articles out there on this but I'll give you my non-journalistic, non-finance, non-economics background take on everything.  I'll also put in some links to help all of you navigate some of the best stuff on the web.

First, understanding why this is all happening is pretty crucial.  The best explanation I've found is here (second post).  I don't think I need to say too much more (if you read it) except maybe that too many people got caught up keeping up with the Joneses, Gonzalezes, Schwartzes, Mohammeds, Khans, Sopranos, Changs, whoever the hell they live next to and coveting their (seemingly) marginally superior lifestyle and consumption ability.

This all-too human behavior got the best of too many people and companies like Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, hell, all of them decided to take advantage of this unprecedented wave of home buying and all the consumption (via plastic) that goes along with it.

The past is the past.  What about the present?  Well, things are bad.  Especially in New York, where this eliminates thousands of jobs and the trickle down effect is huge (e.g. street coffee man).  That's just the beginning.  The cab and limo drivers, service industry employees, etc.  A person I regularly talk to likens our situation as (I'm paraphrasing) Great Depression-esque.  I definitely see his point.  Hoovervilles aren't popping up in Central Park just yet but things are pretty grim.  The seemingly bullet-proof New York real estate market is softening, prices of everything are rising, and infrastructure is crumbling. 

Luckily, we live in an information-overload era and there are plenty of people putting a comedic spin on all this.  My favorite is DealBreaker, a self-described Wall St. Tabloid.  They take everything in stride and is a good outlet for those affected by the situation to vent a little about their incompetent, ego-maniacal bosses.  New York Magazine is also great, especially the blog Daily Intel.  They (DealBreaker, Daily Intel) have a tendency to poke fun at the big players: Hank Paulson, Dick Fuld, John Thain among others which is good because the typical "Big Business Bad!" (via the New York Times) vs. "Big Business Rules!" (via CNBC and Fox News) is, frankly, a little boring.

And, of course, the two guys running for President are talking a big game.  John McCain wants to appoint a "9/11 Commission" to figure out the problem (not a solution) and Barack Obama is going to raise taxes (not good for anybody).  The last two people that should be talking about the situation is these two guys.  

I hate to be the person to remind a few people of this, but the President of the United States has very little to do with the state of the economy.  There are going to be good times and bad times and if you're President you either bask in the glory (Clinton, Reagan) or take all the blame (Carter, either Bush).  Sorry, it comes with the job.

Now I suppose I could get into credit default swaps and mortgage backed securities and how they fit into all this but it's really pretty boring and complicated.  Hopefully this satisfies your Wall St. madness thirst.  Now go out there and get your Lehman Brothers swag on eBay!

The Dynamic Duo?

So it's Memorial Day weekend and rather than try to come up with something ground breakingly interesting, I'll go back to a reliable subject.

Barack Obama is all but certain to be the Democratic nominee for President. There are only three primaries left and he is only 61 delegates away from securing the nomination. The Mass Media, in all it's wisdom, is skipping the formalities and getting right to the Vice President talk (NYT).

With such a hard fought nominating process, it's no surprise that Hillary Clinton's name is being thrown into the hat as possible candidates for the VP slot. There are some (namely Dick Morris) in the blogosphere that consider this a huge mistake because Obama will be constantly looking over his shoulder to find the Clintons (and all their baggage) screwing things up.

My personal feelings (after consulting with a political guru) are that this is pretty much malarkey (aka bullshit). Sure the Clintons have baggage but isn't this like saying "Saddam Hussein didn't have weapons of mass destruction"? No politician is without his/her baggage. Look what they did to Obama and the Reverend Wright thing. They took comments made by a seemingly ridiculous clergyman (aren't they all) and made those comments into an issue (which specific political issue the comments represent as it relates to Obama I don't know).

The Republican spin machine will do whatever it takes to demonize any Democratic nominee and his/her running mate. We're talking about the likes of Dick Cheney and Karl Rove after all.

The bottom line is, that if Barack Obama chooses Hillary Clinton as his VP, this election may be over before it gets started. I like John McCain very much and I think he would make a decent President but there is simply no way he could defeat the team of Obama/Clinton. He could have Ronald Reagan as his running mate and he wouldn't be able to win.

Is the Obama/Clinton team a polarizing duo? Possibly. But if it causes Sean Hannity to lose his mind and Bill O'Reilly to do more of this then it's totally worth it. And if you can't get enough of that, try this.

Have a great weekend everybody!

The Countdown is On!

250 days until 1/20/2009 (Bush's last day) in case you were wondering.

Last night I heard someone call the President "George Fucking Bush". Now, I'm as big of a Bush unsupporter as anyone but can't we just remember that his tenure is coming to an end?!? C'mon people, positive thinking!

I was anti-Bush a long time ago, long before the President achieved his now record disapproval rating. I'd like to think I was a trailblazer of some sorts (ok, maybe not so much).

In any case, I'm tired of hearing people complain about the President like it's breaking news that he's a bad President. I know it, you know it, EVERYONE knows it. How about we move on and get someone elected? I mean, I don't want summer to go by too fast but we need a new President about as badly as Gossip Girl viewers need lives.

Will John McCain be a third George Bush term? Likely not. I mean, John McCain actually served in Vietnam and is much, much older than GWB. Gosh, and to hear Senator McCain talk about it, we'll be out of Iraq by 2013! I'll be 33. Holy crapola. Now that's a COUNTDOWN.

And the winner is...

John McCain.

OK. So I'm really bored at work and I need to get this post done so I cut out early. I guess I'll talk about the election. That should be easy enough, right?

Yes, yes, I know most you probably don't want to hear about it. Don't worry, I'll keep it short.

John McCain is the winner for a couple of reasons:

1) He's been able to rally his the GOP base while Clinton and Obama have been focusing on each other (although Obama had been this doing less and less).

2) The Republicans don't have to think about how they are going to attack Obama during the general election because the Clintons have come up with everything possible.

Ok, maybe not everything. I suppose they could have opened up a little more on Obama's connection to these so-called terrorist organziations in the U.S. but for the most part, the Jeremiah Wright thing has done the most damage.

The question is, will McCain be willing to get down and dirty and keep it up with the mud slinging? Time will tell but it's getting testy already (read here).

However agressive McCain decides to be you can bet that the non-profit groups (think swift boats in 2004, sorry I can't remember the tax code citation they fall under and I don't feel like researching it at 3:30 on a Friday) are going to implement the "kitchen sink" strategy.

I guess that brings me to the point that, if there was no mud-slinging, would anyone vote? I mean we love all the ugliness and bickering and going back and forth. It gets a rise out of people (I won't name names) so they feel like they should get out there and VOTE because how dare he/she say that about ______ (insert candidate's name here)!

So I guess what I'm trying to say is get the garden hose and a big pile of dirt and let's get to it people! This is American politics! The last one in the mud puddle is probably going to be the first eating mud pie!

The Slim to None Scenarios for Hillary

Just thought everyone would enjoy these:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/trailhead/archive/2008/05/08/obama-doomsday-scenario-contest-results.aspx?GT1=38001